As the UN Palermo Protocol reached its 25th anniversary, world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly to reaffirm their commitment to addressing human trafficking. The concept note for the event highlighted the Protocol’s enduring importance.
On 24 November, the General Assembly adopted a political declaration – annexed to the 2025 Political Declaration on the Implementation of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons – renewing global resolve to address what the UN called “one of humanity’s gravest crimes.”
Speakers highlighted the need for stronger and better-resourced legislation, effective state action, and improved conviction rates. It was also stressed that safe migration pathways are essential to reducing exploitation risks, referencing the Ukraine response as an example of how protection-oriented policies can help prevent trafficking. The declaration briefly acknowledges the importance of safe and regular migration pathways. Yet this reference appears only after an emphasis on the need to stop irregular migration, signaling clear political preferences. States also committed to strengthening national referral mechanisms, improving victim identification, and expanding trauma-informed, rights-based support and access to justice, including effective remedies.
The declaration underlines the importance of addressing the root causes of vulnerability, including poverty, conflict and lack of protection, and calls for greater involvement of trafficked persons in shaping responses. The growing misuse of digital technologies to facilitate trafficking, including online recruitment for fraud schemes, was also highlighted.
The declaration further encourages states, multilateral organisations and the private sector to adopt ethical and transparent procurement and supply chain practices, increase due dilligence, enhance cross-border cooperation, and invest in capacity building and specialised human resources. It also reiterates the need for improved, disaggregated data collection to support evidence-based policies.
These developments follow the adoption of the Doha declaration, a renewed commitment to ending forced labour, human trafficking and child labour, through tackling poverty, strengthening social protection, and upholding human rights. During the meeting, the UN Secretary-General warned that progress on the Sustainable Development Goals remains far too slow, and highlighted the need to strenghten labour protections and workers’ rights.
UN experts have likewise called on states and businesses to step up protections for migrant workers, warning that forced labour, unsafe conditions and discriminatory practices remain widespread. The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights stressed that recruitment must be fair and transparent, workers must not bear the costs of their recruitment, and freedom of association and collective bargaining must be upheld.
This year’s UN Forum on Business and Human Rights further reflected these concerns. Panels and side events focused on workers’ rights, effective compensation mechanisms, the role of human rights due diligence, competitiveness through responsible practices, gender-based violence, and fair recruitment and labour migration.